New appointments to the Order of Ontario include Cameron Bailey, Edward Rogers and...Don Cherry
The appointees are prominent figures across law, entertainment, business, education and health care
The province’s lieutenant-governor has announced 30 new appointments to the Order of Ontario. The names include prominent figures across sectors including law, entertainment, business, education and health care.
Toronto International Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey is on the list, which represents Ontario’s highest civilian honour, alongside broadcast journalist Tracy Moore, Rogers Communications and Toronto Blue Jays executive chair Edward Rogers, and other notable Ontarians.
Related: The most influential Torontonians of 2025
“The 2025 Order of Ontario appointees represent the very best of our province,” said Lieutenant-Governor Edith Dumont in a media release published today. “Through their exceptional dedication and achievements, they have made profound contributions that have touched lives across Ontario and beyond. May their remarkable examples continue to inspire us all to work together for the greater good.”
The full list can be found here, and readers may notice one somewhat divisive name on it: Don Cherry, whom the release credits as being “known for his influential coaching career, bold broadcasting style and decades of dedication” to hockey. It also lauds Cherry’s “extensive philanthropy, supporting the military and police, youth sports and animal welfare.”
Cherry was fired by Sportsnet in 2019 after taking aim at people in Canada who don’t wear Remembrance Day poppies. His comments were perceived as being disparaging toward immigrants.
Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Graham McGregor, said in the release that “these inspiring individuals have demonstrated dedication and leadership in a wide range of careers and pursuits, making a lasting difference in our communities and reflecting the very best of our province.”
Related: The province has finally paid its $97-million portion of FIFA World Cup funding
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
